In particular, "She Persisted, We Resisted" brings to mind HRC's failed presidential campaign, something you'd think the party would want to move past. It's also bizarre that "She Persisted" is the title of Chelsea Clinton's new book, so I have to wonder what exactly these people are tying to accomplish. Besides that, the major problem with each slogan is that they are all reactive, not proactive. Thankfully they were rightly mocked by all sides of the political spectrum, and even the NRCC got in a good dig (Democrats 2018: We Win Moral Victories, Not Elections).

Which makes me wonder, what would be the Democrats' version of MAGA? Just a rallying cry that encompasses the party's positions & hopefully sell a lot of hats? "Hope & Change" sounds laughably naive in retrospect, & "Stronger Together" & "I'm With Her" are fine platitudes but were even more useless in communicating Democratic policies.

Or do you think the slogan ideas the party was floating in the email survey were decent? Are they capable of taking back the house with a rallying cry like "Democrats 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?"

Doesn't matter a whit how it sounds in retrospect. It was money at the time. Inspirational and memorable; it's that message that got him elected. Just like MAGA worked in 2016.

A good message needs to be inspirational, memorable and capable of building a campaign around-- to grow into stump speeches, talking points, etc. Getting too specific on an issue isn't good for a message. Being forgettable isn't good. Being too long isn't good. Being cryptic or unclear is horrible.

I don't know what that is for 2018 and 2020, but I hear the Dems are floating "A better deal" right now. I'm pretty sure that's not "it."

It's not PC but the Democrats, like it or not, need more testosterone. They can be white male macho and yet still balance that with respect for minorities, LGBT, and feminism -- those can coexist. They can also be friendly to business while simultaneously being friendly to the middle and lower classes.

As one of our resident conservatives, you'll probably want to take my advice with a grain of salt, but ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by asahi

It's not PC but the Democrats, like it or not, need more testosterone. They can be white male macho and yet still balance that with respect for minorities, LGBT, and feminism -- those can coexist. They can also be friendly to business while simultaneously being friendly to the middle and lower classes.

I thought something like this video from John Cena struck the right tone. It's patriotic, and optimistic, and yet speaks for values that are important to Democrats.

Yeah, I think many / most Republicans are on board with the idea that we should be nice to handicapped people and gays. If you had to pick a party that emphasizes that particular message, I suspect we'd agree it's something more at the forefront of the minds of Democrats than Republicans, right?

It's not PC but the Democrats, like it or not, need more testosterone. They can be white male macho and yet still balance that with respect for minorities, LGBT, and feminism -- those can coexist. They can also be friendly to business while simultaneously being friendly to the middle and lower classes.

Washington was abuzz this week with talk about the new Democratic agenda, “A Better Deal,” which is suddenly dominating news coverage and captivating voters with a plan to remake the American economy, sending Republicans scrambling for a viable platform of their own in advance of the midterm elections.

No, not really. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention on the beach.

<snip>

The slogan, which apparently took months of focus-grouping to perfect, rather than the five seconds of idle thought while doing the laundry that you would think it required, evokes — yet again — memories of the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, which remain powerful in exactly two places in America: nursing homes and Democratic leadership meetings.

Emphasis added.

I did lose a bit of respect for Matt Bai with his incessant hammering at Hillary during the campaign, but this was pretty funny and did have what I thought as some cogent analysis.

"Justice for all." It's got that whiff of patriotism, so just try making fun of it, with roots in lefty politics. It could be used in different contexts-- justice for the working mom, justice for Philando, justice for the factory worker, justice for the retiree fighting to make ends meet, justice for our vets, justice for the kid born with pre-existing conditions, justice for the immigrant.

The progressive & labor wing could incorporate "No justice, no peace" into the campaign and bring some teeth to the fight.

And it's vague enough that people would be able to read into it whatever motivates them. I think a lot of people feel like they're not getting a fair shake-- like other people are getting advantages in life, at work, economically, politically, institutionally, in the justice system, etc.-- so the theme of justice could be tailored in a way to address specific audiences or large swaths of people. You don't want it focused too much on the middle class, or whites, or blue collar workers, or progressives, etc. But hearing someone say "You deserve justice" could scratch an itch for almost anyone that hears it.

It could have some bite to it, but doesn't necessarily attack anyone in specific, because almost everyone at some point has felt institutionally slighted.

And after the childish shitshow that we'll have endured, it has a grown-up air about it. Plus it also has the potential to stir emotions-- 10,000 people at a campaign rally chanting "Justice!" could be a powerful tool.

"Justice for all." It's got that whiff of patriotism, so just try making fun of it, with roots in lefty politics. It could be used in different contexts-- justice for the working mom, justice for Philando, justice for the factory worker, justice for the retiree fighting to make ends meet, justice for our vets, justice for the kid born with pre-existing conditions, justice for the immigrant.

The progressive & labor wing could incorporate "No justice, no peace" into the campaign and bring some teeth to the fight.

And it's vague enough that people would be able to read into it whatever motivates them. I think a lot of people feel like they're not getting a fair shake-- like other people are getting advantages in life, at work, economically, politically, institutionally, in the justice system, etc.-- so the theme of justice could be tailored in a way to address specific audiences or large swaths of people. You don't want it focused too much on the middle class, or whites, or blue collar workers, or progressives, etc. But hearing someone say "You deserve justice" could scratch an itch for almost anyone that hears it.

It could have some bite to it, but doesn't necessarily attack anyone in specific, because almost everyone at some point has felt institutionally slighted.

And after the childish shitshow that we'll have endured, it has a grown-up air about it. Plus it also has the potential to stir emotions-- 10,000 people at a campaign rally chanting "Justice!" could be a powerful tool.

The first thing a lot of people who hear "Justice For All" are going to think of is the much-hated SJW stereotype. I can already imagine the jokey memes flooding twitter, reddit & facebook.

Yeah those stickers are awful. It's not easy to make a slogan worse than "I'm with her" but "She Persisted, We Resisted" just might be it. Democrats really need to get out of their whiny,defensive crouch and articulate a hopeful vision like Obama did in 2008 and Clinton in 1992.

She persisted, we resisted sounds like a woman tried to get me drunk to date rape me. But I got out of there. And that, officer, is why I was driving while intoxicated. It's all there on the bumper sticker! Can't you read?

I like "Fair Deal". "Square" has some negative connotations. Using "all" in the slogan will make some think it's the party for minorities of all types. I wouldn't mind "Stop the Republican Free-for-All, It's time to make America Fair for all." but that's a bit long.

Why don't they just go for full disclosure and brutal honesty:
"A slightly less awful choice than the Republicans!"
"Vote for Kodos, Kang has got you nowhere!"
"We won't get anything done, but at least we're not actively evil - vote Democrat!"

It's hard to make a hip slogan for the Dems. The counter-culture energy is on the right. They're the masters of edgy memes and trolling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pantastic

"Stronger Together" and "I'm With Her" highlighted how narcissistic and out of touch Hillary is - they're the candidate saying "I'm great, you should follow me because I'm great," with overtones of "you should vote for my vagina-having-ness" in the second one.

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
We Polked you in '44, We shall Pierce you in '52
Grant Us Another Term
Win with Wilson
War in the East, Peace in the West, Thank God for Woodrow Wilson
Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge
Who but Hoover?
Forward with Roosevelt
Pour it on 'em, Harry!
I like Ike
All the way with LBJ
Nixon's the One
Can't stump the Trump

If you're trying to think up worse slogan idea, I think you found one. In a race with two wildly unpopular candidates, both of whom spark absolute hatred from some opponents, using "I like Hillary" seems like something that might actually be worse than what she did. A lot of people voting for Hillary thought "I held my nose and voted for her because she's not Trump, but damn" than anything approaching 'like', and that slogan would probably piss off every "at least she's not Trump" voter to some degree, leading to even lower turnouts.

If you're trying to think up worse slogan idea, I think you found one. In a race with two wildly unpopular candidates, both of whom spark absolute hatred from some opponents, using "I like Hillary" seems like something that might actually be worse than what she did.

Well, duh. It doesn't rhyme, and "I pillory Hillary" is a step in the wrong direction.

Which makes me wonder, what would be the Democrats' version of MAGA? Just a rallying cry that encompasses the party's positions & hopefully sell a lot of hats? "Hope & Change" sounds laughably naive in retrospect, & "Stronger Together" & "I'm With Her" are fine platitudes but were even more useless in communicating Democratic policies.

"Stronger Together" and "I'm With Her" highlighted how narcissistic and out of touch Hillary is - they're the candidate saying "I'm great, you should follow me because I'm great," with overtones of "you should vote for my vagina-having-ness" in the second one. Meanwhile "Make America Great Again" talks about what Trump will do for you and the country, it isn't about Trump except as the instrument of that change. Trump wasn't short on self-aggrandizement, but he presented something more like "I'm great and I do things my own way and I'm going to do stuff for you people who get ignored and boost AMERICA" than "I'm qualified, I mean great, and the party says it's time for me to be elected, so go elect me because it's time to elect me". When Donald Trump, a guy who likes writing his name in giant gold letters, manages to come up with a less self-centered campaign slogan than you, it says a lot.

Quote:

Or do you think the slogan ideas the party was floating in the email survey were decent? Are they capable of taking back the house with a rallying cry like "Democrats 2018: I Mean, Have You Seen the Other Guys?"

I mean, it's better than "It's her turn", which was seriously considered as a slogan by Clinton's campaign staff, but it's an awful idea to even consider. The biggest problem for Democrats in elections is generally low turnout, and a slogan that amounts to "We suck, we know we suck, but maybe the other guy sucks worse" doesn't exactly encourage turnout. Do the Democrats really have no positive message to send? I really don't get why they're so afraid of sending positive messages or actual policy positions, it generally works well in politics (Reagan, Bill, W, Obama all had success with it in recent elections).

I am seriously enjoying watching this thread. Every one of these slogans is great and I hope Democrats adopt them all. I especially like "A Fair Deal" and "Justice for All". Those are definitely winning slogans.

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